As you begin your career in the insurance industry, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you will need to learn. Obtaining your license is just the start. While you may feel overwhelmed, you are stepping into a lifelong career with endless possibilities. Here are just a few of the career paths available to you. After all, you may find, after working for a while, that simply selling insurance is not the career path you had envisioned.  

However, the skills you learn early in your career can easily translate into other paths in the industry, including the following.  

Any of these careers may bring you more job fulfillment, but first, you must learn the basics. Understanding the five main areas you will usually need to understand first can help you build expertise, grow your client base and get you noticed in the industry. Here are those five main areas. 

1.    Personal Automobile Policy (PAP) 

Many agents focus heavily on selling auto insurance, because as you write the auto insurance, you will have a customer who may have other assets requiring insurance. These can include rental coverage, a homeowner's policy, “toys” such as all-terrain vehicles or e-bikes, or even a businessowners policy. 

Understanding the basics of auto insurance can be a great place to begin. Know that these coverages are crucial when insuring autos. 

Bodily injury (BI) – When your insureds are driving or even if they lend their vehicle, involvement in almost any accident, even a minor fender bender, can cause injury. BI coverage can provide protection for third-party claims made against your insured. However, BI does not pay for the driver’s injuries, so always recommend the next coverage. For a good introduction to legal liability, read this article from Virtual University.  

Medical payments – Medical payments can pay medical bills arising out of an auto accident for the insured and their vehicle occupants.  

Property damage – Property damage coverage can pay for damages your insured causes because of their negligence.  

Personal injury protection (PIP) – In PIP states, this is a no-fault coverage mandated by state law. The state statute may require insurers to cover auto accidents on a first party basis without considering fault. This is only a basic introduction to PIP and each state defines it differently in its statutes. 

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage – According to the Insurance Information Institute in 2022, 14% of motorists drove without insurance in the United States. It’s imperative that you offer these coverages to your insured, which can provide protection if they’re injured in an accident with an uninsured or underinsured motorist. Bear in mind they are two separate coverages. Many errors & omissions claims arise from the alleged failure of an agent to offer these coverages, so always document the offer and any rejection.  

Collision coverage – This coverage provides protection if your insured has an accident that damages their vehicle. This can include a parking lot accident or a single-vehicle accident where your driver runs off the road. Fault is not an issue, although the insurance company will pursue repayment in something called “subrogation” from the at-fault driver or their insurance.  

Comprehensive coverage – This important coverage protects your insured’s vehicle against non-driving accidents such as vandalism, windshield breaks and an important driving incident, striking a deer or other animal while driving.  

A few tips when writing these coverages: When your insured rejects a coverage such as uninsured motorist, always obtain a rejection with either a rejection from such as those furnished by the Big “I” or via an email. Also, always, always recommend the highest limits of liability available. Many E&O claims arise when your insured alleges, after they find their coverage inadequate, that “My agent never told me about that coverage.”  

Additionally, ask to see a copy of the title. You don’t want to insure a vehicle with prior damage, one that doesn’t exist, or one owned by a business.  

Early in your career, auto insurance will account for a sizable portion of your business. Remember to drill down with your insured to determine what other coverages you can quote by asking questions like these. 

You’ll want to ensure that your insured turns to you when they do need coverage, so frequent reminders that you are their trusted advisor via emails, newsletters or social media posts can help.  

2. Homeowners Insurance  

Homeowners insurance provides peace of mind to property owners. It not only protects their homes against storms, fires and other natural perils, it provides liability coverage if your insured violates others’ rights, or someone is hurt on their premises. Understanding the policy is critical in offering the right coverages.  

One of the most crucial factors in writing homeowners insurance is in determining how much coverage to write to protect the residence. It’s important that you don’t recommend the amount. You can run the carrier’s calculator and furnish that information, but the insured must choose the amount of coverage to buy to prevent a future underinsurance issue at the time of loss.  

Determining a home’s insurance coverage amount is beyond the scope of this article, but the link helps explain how to arrive at valuations, which again are simply estimates of the value. It’s up to your insured (and their mortgage company) to ensure the correct value.  

Similar to the homeowners policy, the HO7 usually covers mobile, modular and manufactured homes. This includes mobile homes that are single wide or double-wide. However, if your insured intends to move the home (never call it a “trailer”!), they will need some type of transit coverage.  

The HO-7 provides coverage for the dwelling itself, other structures, loss of use after a claim, personal property coverage and personal liability coverage including medical payments. For a good breakdown of HO7 coverage, read this Trusted Choice article.  

The HO-7 form uses a broad form approach like the HO-3 policy. However, with so much difficulty placing mobile homes and depending on location and storm frequency and severity, you may need to place the coverage through a surplus lines' insurers. If so, read the policy and all endorsements carefully to point out any exclusions, especially if you’re moving the insured from a standard carrier to a surplus lines carrier where coverage may be less robust.  

5. Business Owners Policy (BOP) Insurance  

Businessowners policies combine property, liability, and business interruption insurance into one package, tailored specifically for small to medium-sized businesses. This type of insurance is critical for helping entrepreneurs protect their livelihoods.  

Why BOPs are Important Coverage 

With the rise of small businesses and work-from-home, the BOP is in high demand. However, many business owners who work strictly from home do not think they need coverage. That error can cause a great deal of grief if someone who comes to their home to pick up a business-related document or product falls and sustains an injury. The homeowners policy has a liability exclusion for business pursuits.  

Additionally, those who provide professional services such as drafting building plans or providing tax advice or bookkeeping services also have professional liability exposures the BOP not covered by a BOP.  

Once you write a BOP, you can cross-sell other insurance coverages such as the home and auto. Additionally, you may be able to sell more commercial lines coverages as the business grows and adds employees.  

Many, many carriers offer BOPs. Some are on ISO forms, but many are on proprietary forms that can differ significantly from ISO forms.  

Dive into specific industries to better understand their risks and craft tailored solutions. For example, a retail store will require different coverage than a tech startup. Many carriers offer specialized BOP programs for specific types of businesses, such as antique stores, cleaning services, office businesses and even contractors.  

The BOP typically covers the following exposures. 

The Micro BOP 

Last year, Insurance Services Office rolled out a new product called the micro-BOP. The U.S. economy was experiencing substantial growth in the sector known as micro-businesses. Post Covid, the growth of micro-businesses exploded. Some of this growth was financed by the Covid relief checks and was spurred on by platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay allowing those micro-businesses access to world markets. 

In 2019, ISO/Verisk introduced the Micro-Businessowners Coverage Form (BP 00 04). Based on their Businessowners Coverage Form (BP 00 03), ISO/Verisk seeks to streamline insurance coverages tailoring coverage to meet the needs of the micro-business sector. Though micro-businesses come in all shapes and operations. Though many start and continue to operate as home-based businesses, some operate at other locations such as: